60. Shot blanks at you...!

Just before I arrived at the First Infantry Division at Fort Riley in the early 70's, a soldier shot a blank at another soldier during a training exercise and killed him. No bullet by mistake, it was the paper wadding in the blank, shot at close range, that penetrated his light summer uniform and killed him.

The death of a soldier in peacetime is a BIG deal in the Army. Real, real BIG. It went all the way to the division commander, to his superiors in 5th Army and to the Pentagon. Orders and warnings went out worldwide about the use of blanks in training. Later, a special deflector would be attached to the muzzle of M-16's. Today, they use lasers and more.